


Homecoming

by bbypoe (angelofthurs)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 09:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5580028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelofthurs/pseuds/bbypoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To fall in love is absolute; to love and be loved is home. </p>
<p>(some stormpilot fluff with a little angst thrown in there, to keep you on your toes)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

_It doesn’t happen immediately._

“Where’s Rey?” is the first thing that Finn coughed out when he woke up in a foreign bed. He looked around wildly despite the pain echoing in his spine, trying to find anyone to answer his questions about where he was and more importantly where Rey was. 

A medical droid came screaming into the room, beeping some sporadic message that made Finn jump, swearing under his breath as he fell back onto his back. The droid beeped some more and Finn groaned. Before he could explain to the angry machine that he didn’t speak droid, the droid was rolling away from his bed. 

It beeped twice and a holographic transmission beamed from the droid’s side, projecting a life-like Poe Dameron into the little room. 

“Hey buddy,” the projection started with a smile, though his voice was more of a soft sigh, the voice of someone who hadn’t slept in the past day or two. “You’re back at the Resistance base in the medical bay. You and Rey did an awesome job, we couldn’t have done it without you.”

His smile dampened slightly as he reached up to rub at the back of his neck. “Rey is safe and healthy and she said to tell you that you were great,” he hesitated, and Finn could feel his stomach tightening, waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

“She went to find Luke. Skywalker, I mean,” he sighed, quickly shaking his head and adding, “But she’s safe there. She sent a transmission and she’ll want a transmission from you once you’re up and healthy again. But that’s up to the droids to decide.”

The droid let out a flurry of short beeps, but Finn shushed it, watching Poe intently. 

“I told them to let me know as soon as you wake up,” Poe cleared his throat, continuing, “I was here for as long as I could be, but the General needed me for strategy meetings and I have a few basic recon missions to run with new recruits. But I’ll be there within an hour of you waking up. I promise.” 

There was a beat of silence, before a look of confusion washed over Poe’s face. “I’m Poe, by the way. Poe Dameron,” he hummed, biting his lip nervously as he rambled, “The droids said there was a very low chance of you losing your memory, but just in case you did, I’m Poe. You saved me from Kylo Ren and the First Order and…yeah.” An awkward laugh bubbled out and he shook his head. “I think this transmission has gone on long enough,” he laughed, adding with a big smile, “Make sure those damn droids come to get me! I’ll see you soon buddy.”

The transmission cut out and the medical droid turned to Finn and beeped. Finn bit back a smile, nodding to where the transmission had just disappeared and teasing, “Well you heard him. Go tell him I’m awake.”

_And it doesn’t happen overnight._

“Squeeze my hand,” Poe looked uncharacteristically stern in his standard base clothes. He held Finn’s left hand in his own. 

“Last I checked, you were a pilot, not a medical droid,” Finn teased, only hesitating for a moment before trying to squeeze Poe’s hand as much as he could. He could feel that his muscles were weak and still in shock from his recovery, but he definitely felt stronger. “Be careful, don’t want to break your steering hand,” Finn huffed before releasing Poe’s hand. 

Poe smirked, reaching over to Finn’s other hand and taking it. “C’mon tough guy. Squeeze.”

Finn did as he was told, his right hand feeling much stronger than the left. This time, he didn’t let go. Neither did Poe. “Rey said you were a hand holder,” Poe winked, but Finn’s attention was on the way the pilot’s thumb stroked the back of his hand. 

Finn’s head tilted slightly, wondering, “When did you talk to Rey?” 

“We talked a little before she left. She’s…she’s something.” Poe laughed, shaking his head as he looked down at Finn, “I don’t know how you two did it, but I’m glad you found each other.”

Finn nodded, squeezing Poe’s hand softer this time as he agreed, “I’m glad we did too.” 

_Things like this take time and patience._

Poe always ate his lunch in the medical bay with Finn, sitting cross-legged with a tray over his lap while Finn sat in front of a tray in his bed. 

“I hate this bed.” Finn grumbled for the tenth time today. He’d been awake for six days and the medical droids didn’t plan on discharging him for another two days. His cabin fever was really starting to get the best of him. 

Poe sipped his drink, shrugging before answering, “You’re almost done, buddy. You’re in the home stretch.” 

Poe was always so encouraging and kind, Finn didn’t know whether to thank him or throw his tray at him. He knew that the man was just being a good and supportive friend, but Finn was tired of sitting around when there were things to do on the base. He had names to learn and places to see and every day he sat around waiting for Poe to visit was another day of isolation. And on top of that, Rey hadn’t returned their transmission since he’d been awake, which only made him worry on top of everything else. 

“You killed my friend, you know?” Poe had thought of it last night, while lying awake worrying about Rey. Back on Jakku, when he was just a pawn with no name, he’d watched a rebel pilot shoot down one of his only friends. It hadn’t dawned on him until the night before that it was Poe’s fault his friend had died. 

Poe looked over at Finn with furrowed brows, setting his tray aside. “On Jakku?” 

Finn nodded, looking at the wall across from his bed instead of his friend’s face. He had no point to make. The shot that had killed his friend was the shot that had made him realize he couldn’t be a brainwashed soldier. The shot that had killed his friend had led him to rebel against the First Order, to meet Poe and Rey and BB-8 and Han Solo. But it didn’t hurt any less just because he’d found a new life. 

Poe nodded, his face solemn with recognition. “I’m sorry you lost your friend,” he said slowly, his expression changing slightly as he added, “But The First Order killed everyone in that village. They killed innocents and my friends.”

“And you think because they were good and we were evil that your killing was more justified? More forgivable?” Finn snapped, his eyes finally finding Poe’s as he asked, “What if it had been me you killed?” 

The pilot didn’t have an answer. How could he? Finn saw the clench of the man’s jaw, saw him look down at his feet before pushing himself up from his chair. “I should go,” he murmured. He grabbed his tray in one hand and reached out to squeeze one of Finn’s hands with the other. 

Then he was gone, and Finn was left to stare at the ceiling in silence. 

The medical droids made no comment about his swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks when they came to check his vitals. 

_And these things do not need to be perfect, they just need to be good._

“Did I miss it? I ran as fast as I could!” Poe busted through the door with BB-8 sliding to a stop against the back of his legs. The droid chirped a few beeps and Poe hushed it through heavy breathing. 

Finn grinned from ear to ear, sitting at the edge of his bed and shaking his head. “Of course not. I wasn’t gonna start without you,” he chided, holding his hand out for Poe to take. 

Poe rushed to his side, despite the frantic warning beeps from the medical droid. “It’s fine, I’m being gentle,” Poe breathed, shooting the droid a look as he took Finn’s hand. 

With a determined exhale, Finn gently pushed himself up from the bed and onto his feet, gripping Poe’s hand for support as he settled his weight onto his feet. He could feel the long ache up his spine from being sedentary for so long, but otherwise the pain was relatively minor. 

“You’re doing it, bud!” Poe was practically bubbling with excitement, bouncing back and forth on his feet as he kept his hand steady for Finn to lean on. Finn took a few steps, working through the dull ache as he laughed, “I can still walk!” 

With bated breath, Finn let go of Poe’s hand, taking a couple steps before reaching out to steady himself again. Poe laughed triumphantly as Finn pulled him in for a hug, the two men embracing long enough for the droids to chirp their complaints at Poe. 

Once they’d gotten Finn back into bed, Poe took a seat at his bedside, hesitating for a moment before saying, “Look, about yesterday…I’m sorry-“

“No, I’m sorry,” Finn interjected, shaking his head and sighing, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I was just so sick of being here and thinking about everything over and over again.”

Poe placed a hand on Finn’s forearm, rubbing gently as he said, “Well I’m sorry too. I know what it’s like to lose a teammate and I know what it’s like to lose a friend. You’ve been through so much in the past few weeks and I want you to know I’m here for you. Always.” 

Finn rolled his eyes teasingly. “Yeah, you’ve been here for me every day this week,” he joked, biting his lip as he looked to where Poe held his arm. “But I really appreciate it Poe. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

_As long as love is kind, then it is a good love._

On the day that Finn was released from the medical bay, Poe was there to lead him to his living quarters. With the help of a cane, Finn walked completely on his own, smiling and chatting away about how excited he was to finally be free to live his life on the base.

As they walked, Finn met what seemed to be hundreds of new people, all congratulating him on his health and praising him as a hero for his part of the Starkiller Base mission. 

For the first time in his life, Finn felt like he belonged. 

His living quarters were right across the hall from Poe’s; a circumstance that Finn was convinced was not a coincidence at all. 

“There’s a bathroom right through that door over there, and you have a desk here if you want to read or study. It also has a transmitter so you can send transmissions to Rey whenever you want.” He’d gotten to speak to Rey a couple of times after her notable radio silence; their calls usually only lasted a few moments, but he loved getting to see her and hear how happy she was to be working to her full potential. 

“There’s no kitchen, but the mess hall is open most of the time and if you get on the cooks’ good sides, they might even give you some good snacks to keep for yourself.” Poe seemed to be rambling not out of nervousness, but more out of excitement. 

Finn took a seat at the edge of his bed as Poe continued to point and gesture throughout the room. “The closet has some clothes that will fit you, including flight suits, fatigues, and standard base clothing,” Poe nodded, only stopping his speech for a moment to smile. “And your jacket is in there too. Don’t ask me how many strings I had to pull to get that thing looking good as new, but it is. You can’t even tell you were nearly sliced in half.” 

Finn bit back a smile, looking up at Poe as he sighed, “I can’t believe I ruined your jacket and I can’t believe you still managed to get it fixed.”

“ _Your_ jacket,” Poe emphasized as he sat down next to Finn, bumping their shoulders together. 

It seemed like instinct for their hands to come together, for their fingers to intertwine. It was safe and comfortable, to feel their palms pressed together and to know that they had been through more in the past couple weeks than most people had dealt with in a lifetime, and had come out of it as stronger people.

“Thank you for everything,” Finn said quietly. He leaned over to rest his head on Poe’s shoulder, closing his eyes. 

It was the most at peace either man had felt in weeks. 

_To fall in love is absolute; to love and be loved is home._

Three weeks ago, Finn woke up in an unfamiliar bed in the medical bay of a place he was almost entirely unfamiliar with. 

Now, Finn wakes up in Poe Dameron’s bed. It isn’t the first time he’s woken up here, and he’s certain it won’t be the last. His arms are wrapped around the fighter pilot’s waist and he feels more warm and at home than he’s ever felt before. 

They haven’t had sex. They haven’t even had a proper conversation about what the nature of their relationship is. But they know it isn’t worth pretending they don’t want to be together as much as possible. 

Poe stirs in his arms, turning around to face him fully. In the mornings, Poe is always grumpy and refuses to open his eyes before the first alarm rings. 

“Good morning,” Finn hums. When Poe groans and burrows his face into Finn’s chest, Finn thinks his heart might burst. “I think I love you, Poe,” Finn says quietly, pressing his cheek to the pilot’s thick, messy hair.

“I think I love you too, Finn,” Poe answers quietly, wriggling his arms around Finn gently before huffing, “Now go back to sleep before I kick you out of bed.”

Finn obliges with a warm smile and a happy heart.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, follow me on tumblr bbypoe.tumblr.com xx


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